And that was when I got serious about hacking. It was a skill I’d already been honing. So I just electronically removed the cabin sale from the government auction and kept it. I put the water, gas and electric on the government's tab. I don’t feel bad since we don’t use much.
Still, I’ve hung onto it as the one thing we have to our names. This place of our own we could come to if we ever needed to hide out or get away.
Right now, though, I’m wishing we’d sold it and taken the money.
The place is a dump. It’s falling apart. Maybe I’m just creeped out by the fact that someone else has been here. I can tell by the cigarette butts and empty beer bottles. The pair of men’s jeans draped across the unmade bed.
I couldn’t sleep at all last night worrying that whoever it was might be coming back, even though there are no signs that they were here recently.
But the real problem is that I was in such a state of trauma last night, I didn’t even bring any food. My hunger quickly morphed into queasiness and I’ve been throwing up water all morning.
Add to that the very enormous problem that my phone signal’s not working, which means no hotspot or WiFi. No internet.
So now I’m literally stranded here.
In a cabin, in the snow, miles from civilization.
With no food.
If I thought being knocked up by a mobster and hauled in by the feds was bad, I had no idea.
I may not make it out of here alive.
Paolo
From Caitlin’s old apartment, it’s a short trip to Trevor West’s dormitory. I wait outside until he comes out, and then I join him on the sidewalk, matching his pace.
He takes one sidelong look at me and lurches away.
“Don’t run,” I command, because I don’t want to grab him. Assaulting Caitlin’s brother probably isn’t going to help things.
He freezes, but only because he thinks I’m holding a piece on him. I know, because his eyes instantly dart to my hands. When he sees they’re free, he starts to turn again.
“I said, hold up,” I growl.
He hesitates.
“You know who I am?” I don’t have any idea how much Caitlin’s told him. If he even knows about us.
“I have a guess,” he says, wary as hell.
“I’m the guy who’s in love with your sister,” I say.
That stops him. No, he definitely didn’t expect those words. His eyes snap to mine. They are the same shade of cornflower blue as hers. His dark hair hangs over them like shutters. He’s a good-looking kid in an emo kind of way.
“Listen, I need your help.”
Wariness returns to his face and he shifts his stance like he’s ready to run for it again.
“Have you heard from Caitlin? Since yesterday? She’s missing and I—”
“I don’t know where she is,” he says immediately, ducking his head and hunching his shoulders up against the wind. He starts walking away from me.
He’s lying. I always know when they’re lying and this kid’s easy to read.
Once again, I resist the urge to grab his arm and yank him back, instead matching his pace, then step in front of him to block his path. “Listen to me. She got picked up by the feds yesterday.”
That gets his attention. He definitely didn’t know. But he still doesn’t trust me, because now he seems even more determined to get away. Fear flickers over his face. I know how this must seem. If all this kid knows about me is that I’m the guy who killed his dad, he’s not gonna see me as an ally.
“I’m not going to hurt her.” I thrust my hand in my jacket pocket and produce the pregnancy test. I hold it in front of his face. “She’s carrying my child.”
He goes still, looking from the pregnancy test to me. “I never heard a word about you,” he says suspiciously.
“Well, maybe she wasn’t proud of it.” It hurts me to say it out loud. To acknowledge that the woman I love has such a big hang-up with giving herself to me. “She knows I’m not responsible for your dad’s death.”
I need to get that out of the way. If he sees me as his dad's killer, he’s never going to talk.
“Listen. I think she’s probably freaked out right now. She just found out she’s pregnant, and I’m guessing the feds put pressure on her to turn informant. They probably threatened her with renewing the charges. If she was scared and needed to figure shit out, where would she go?”
His mouth is tight as he looks over my shoulder stonily, like he’s thinking. “There’s a place,” he says finally.
“Where?”
“I’m going with you.”
Okay, sure. He doesn’t trust me. “Fine,” I say curtly. “Get in my SUV.”
Caitlin
I crank up the heat and put some hot water on to boil. There’s a ten-year-old can of instant coffee here that I know is going to make me even more miserable to drink, but I have to try it.